Tongue-support for vehicles.



No. 679,094. Patented July 23, l90l. H. M. SUSDORF.

TONGUE SUPPORT FOR VEHICLES.

(Application filed Apr. 19, 1901.)

NrTED STATES HENRY M. SUSDORF, OF RANTOUL, ILLINOIS.

TONGUE-SUPPORT FOR VEHICLES.

I SFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 679,094, dated July 23, 1901.

Application filed April 19 1901.

T0 in whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY M. SUSDORF, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rantoul, in the county of Ohampaign and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Tongue-Support for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in tongue-supports for vehicles.

One object of the present invention is to improve the construction of tongue-supports and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device adapted to be readily applied to a wagon and capable of relieving the necks of a team of the weight of the tongue and of preventing the same from being thrown upward and downward against them.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tongue-support of this character which will automatically adjust itself to the position of the tongue of a vehicle in ascending or descending a grade and which will also permit a wagon to be dumped at a grain-elevator or other (lump without straining or otherwise injuring the spring.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure l is a reverse plan view of a portion of a runningear provided with a tongue-support constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the adjustable plate and the roller. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the spring and its attachment-plate.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a bracket or plate provided with a longitudinal slot or opening 2, receiving suitable fastening devices 3 for adjustably securing the bracket or plate to the lower face of a tongue or pole 4, which is mounted between the front hounds 5 of a running-gear in the usual manner, and the said tongue or pole, which is provided with side pieces or braces 6, is secured to the said hounds by a transverse pivot 7, which permits the tongue to swing vertically in the usual Serial No. 56,597. (No model.)

shank 13, arranged at the front face of the front axle 14 and secured to the same. The

upper end of the shank of the spring is arranged in an angularly bent or offset portion 15 of an attachment-plate 16, which is perforated at its center and ends for the reception of suitable fastening devices 17, for securing it and the spring to the front axle or other portion of the running-gear.

The curved spring presents a convex exterior face to the roller or wheel, and it is adapted to support the tongue to relieve the'necks of the draft-animals of the weight of the said tongue and also to prevent the latter from swinging upward and downward against the animals. The roller or wheel is arranged a considerable distance below the pivot of the tongue, and when the tongue has its front portion depressed the roller or wheel is carried rearward against the spring, which will resist such movement. Should, however, the force be sufficient to ride the roller or wheel upward over the spring, the latter will be flexed, but will not be injured and will permit the roller to be swung downward again to its normal position. By this construction the tongue will adjust itself to the grade and the wagon may be dumped at a grain-elevator or other place without straining or otherwise injuring the spring. The plate or bracket is capable of longitudinal adjustment to secure the necessary tension of the spring when the roller or wheel is in engagement with the same.

It will be seen that the tongue-support is exceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction, that it is adapted to be readily applied to a wagon, and that it is capable of supporting the tongue to relieve the draftanimals of the weight of the same and of preventing the said tongue from swinging upward and downward and strikingthe said animals. It will also be clear that the device will permit the tongue to adjust itself automatically to the position of the wagon and that it will enable the latter to be dumped without straining or otherwise injuring the tongue-support.

What I claim is- 1. A tongue-support comprising a device mounted on the tongue or pole and arranged at the rear end thereof and adapted to be swung upward and downward by the same, and a curved spring mounted on the runninggear in rear of the tongue or pole and presenting an outer convex front face to the said device and adapted to permit the same to ride over and beyond it when a wagon is dumped, whereby injury to the tongue-support is prevented, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a running-gear, of a bracket or plate mounted on the tongue or pole and provided with a depending arm, a roller carried by the arm and located at the rear end of the tongue or pole and arranged to swing upward and downward, and a curved spring mounted on the running-gear in rear of the tongue or pole and presenting a front exteriorconvex face and engaging the roller and arranged to permit the same to ride over and beyond it when the wagon is dumped, whereby the spring will be prevented from being strained or otherwise injured by such movement of the running-gear, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a running-gear, of an approximately semicircular spring arranged at the front face of the axle and provided with a shank andvpresenting a convex outer front face, a plate receiving the shank and secured to the running-gear, a bracket or plate arranged at the lower face of the tongue and having its rear portion extended downward, said bracket or plate being provided with a longitudinal opening, fastening devices passing through the opening and engaging the bracket or plate, and a roller or wheel mounted in the opening at the lower end of the depending portion of the said bracket or plate, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY M. SUSDORF.

Witnesses:

JOHN M. CoLLIsoN, L. A. SMYERS. 

